ASML Stock: Strong Q2, but 2026 Growth Outlook Underwhelms

ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) is one of the AI Stocks Gaining Attention on Wall Street. ASML reported its second-quarter earnings on Wednesday, July 16^th. Investors were hopeful that the chip-making equipment supplier would have bookings robust enough to support its 2026 growth ambitions

The company itself said at an investor event last November that it saw 2026 as a growth year. However, it didn’t mention how much growth it anticipated. According to several analysts, ASML is having a “make or break” quarter for the company, which will seemingly determine its course for the rest of the year.

“ASML would need to double our second-quarter order estimates (of 5.3 billion euros) to comfort our 2026 revenue forecast.” -Barclays analyst Simon Coles told Reuters on July 15th.

On July 16th, the company reported net sales of 7.7 billion euros ($8.95 billion) in the second quarter, ahead of estimates. Despite beating top and bottom line expectations for the second quarter, the company warned that it may not achieve growth in 2026, explaining that geopolitical uncertainty continues to cloud its prospects.

"Looking at 2026, we see that our AI customers' fundamentals remain strong.  At the same time, we continue to see increasing uncertainty driven by macro-economic and geopolitical developments. Therefore, while we still prepare for growth in 2026, we cannot confirm it at this stage."

-ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet said in a statement.

ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) develops and sells advanced semiconductor equipment, including lithography, metrology, and inspection systems for chip manufacturing.

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